diff --git a/snscrape/modules/twitter.py b/snscrape/modules/twitter.py
index 07b5b36..9b0a598 100644
--- a/snscrape/modules/twitter.py
+++ b/snscrape/modules/twitter.py
@@ -187,10 +187,10 @@ class TwitterAPIScraper(snscrape.base.Scraper):
 		del self._apiHeaders['x-guest-token']
 
 	def _check_api_response(self, r):
-		if r.status_code == 429:
+		if r.status_code in (403, 429):
 			self._unset_guest_token()
 			self._ensure_guest_token()
-			return False, 'rate-limited'
+			return False, f'blocked ({r.status_code})'
 		if r.headers.get('content-type', '').replace(' ', '') != 'application/json;charset=utf-8':
 			return False, 'content type is not JSON'
 		if r.status_code != 200: